One year out at Burning Man, some guy set up an air cannon, into which he'd load several handfuls of fluorescent glowsticks, and he'd shoot it off over the heads of the raver kids dancing out on the playa, to great acclaim and excitement.

I mention this only because it was the first image that came to mind after hearing about this Major Breakthrough in Kitty Science....

So long as cats don't develop thumbs, go ahead and mutate them all you like, I say....

"Scientists at Tokyo University say they were able to successfully switch off a mouse's instinct to cower at the smell or presence of cats — showing that fear is genetically hardwired and not learned through experience, as commonly believed."

I don't think that disproves learned fear - most of us don't instinctively fear our parents, but I bet a kid who was abused and beaten by a parent would be pretty fucking scared. I bet if you took these mice and put them in a cage with a cat that hadn't been trained not to pounce on them (how they did THAT is a far more fascinating question, in my opinion), and one of their mousy number was eviscerated before their eyes, they would learn to fear cats, or at least that particular cat.

Which isn't to say the pictures of the mouse and kitten cuddling aren't ridiculously adorable.